Multi-storey car park plans set to move closer

The existing Borough Road car park in Wakefield currently accommodates about 130 vehicles

A plan to build a new multi-storey car park in the centre of Wakefield is set to move forward.

In 2023, Wakefield Council revealed proposals to build a facility on the existing Borough Road car park in an effort to compensate for nearby parking spaces being lost.

The local authority is expected to enter into a "pre-development agreement" with a developer which would see designs for the car park brought forward, according to council papers.

Senior councillors are also seeking a developer to speed up other regeneration projects in the city centre, with 19 publicly-owned assets listed for redevelopment.

Wakefield Council wants to develop the site to accommodate demand for parking spaces

The current street-level car park, on Northgate, can accommodate about 130 vehicles.

But the council expressed a desire to develop the site into a multi-storey facility after plans to build homes on car parks on Rishworth Street and Gills Yard were brought forward.

Council leader Denise Jeffery previously said she wanted the scheme to happen as a "matter of urgency", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Speaking at a council scrutiny meeting last year, she said: "I know that perhaps it does not fit in with the green agenda about keeping cars out of the centre, but I think we have got to be realistic.

"People want to come in their cars and park outside the shops and I think we have got to meet those demands."

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